The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Wireless communication networks such as cellular networks, wireless local area networks (WLAN), and wireless personal area networks (WPAN) have become increasingly common, causing different types of networks to more frequently coexist in a single heterogeneous network. For example, user devices (e.g., handsets) designed to operate within cellular networks are increasingly designed to also operate with other wireless networks, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and global positioning system (GPS) networks. Moreover, some cellular networks are themselves heterogeneous networks that include two or more overlapping networks or network segments. For example, a heterogeneous wireless network arranged according to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE) Standard (currently under development) can include a macro cell as well as one or more pico and/or femto cells located within or partially within the area of the macro cell. As another example, a 3GPP LTE cellular network can include a donor cell (e.g., a macro cell) as well as a relay network located partially within the area of the donor cell, where the relay network relays data (e.g., broadcast data) from a base station in the donor cell to user devices that reside outside the area of the donor cell.
As a result of this increasing overlap of coexisting wireless networks, interference between networks and/or network segments has become a significant problem. Solutions designed to ameliorate this problem have included time domain multiplexing (TDM) interference mitigation schemes. Generally, TDM interference mitigation schemes reduce interference by scheduling when particular communication links within a heterogeneous wireless network may transmit data, or transmit certain kinds and/or amounts of data. These schemes have been successful in improving signal quality, but decrease the data throughput of the networks.